Comic Art Beauty at Black Mermaid
Our friends at Black Mermaid Productions are posting gorgeous sneak peeks of their upcoming project Elf-Fin. It is unusual to see an artist putting this kind of hand-painted effort into cartoon-influenced images. So many creators have gone digital. It’s lovely to see beautiful modeling devoid of the characterless color one has come to expect from Photoshopped comic art.
I hope you will pop over to the official Black Mermaid website blog where you can see dozens more images from this project. Jozef Szekeres and Julie Ditrich are working hard on this series. Please support these Australian cartoonists whose work has appeared in Joe Linsner’s Dawn, and Erik Larsen’s Dart. Jozef painted a beautiful pin-up for A Distant Soil, which I really need to get around to posting!
Black Mermaid also created the entire mythos for the Wavedancers series, bringing mermaids and elves together for the first time!
November 7th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
hot diggity dayam! ^_^ I have been waiting FIFTEEN YEARS for more of these characters. Good things are worth waiting for. So hurry up and put the book out mmmkay?
btw, although it’s getting more common to use it, not everyone colors on Photoshop like it’s a coloring book. I really recommend The Phoenix Requiem as an excellent example of how to do it well. (also, another creator from the Great Southern Land
)
November 7th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I’ve seen some of Jozef’s Photoshop work, and it is virtually indistinguishable from his hand-painted work. We both have the same goals: we want Photoshop to be a tool we use to create pictures that look like paintings. On the whole, I don’t like the mechanical look that many artists get when using Photoshop.
November 8th, 2009 at 12:43 am
How sad that Jozef has had whooping cough! He won’t get over that in a hurry, poor boy. I had a dear friend from college come down with that. He was young and fit before, and now he gets winded playing catch with his kids.
November 8th, 2009 at 12:47 am
No kidding. I think it took me a whole year to get over it.
And now a public service message: The vaccine wears off in adulthood. Go get it again. Whooping cough is on the rise due to irrational fears of vaccinations, and the fact that few adults know they need boosters.
You don’t want this. Go get a shot.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Hi Colleen,
Thank you SO much for your support of this series. Jozef is working steadily on it and we’re excited to reveal random snapshots of artwork every time he finishes a few pages. Each of the comics in the series is 44 pages long and we need to finish two entire issues before it gets to the market but we want to reassure you it’s all happening.
Arinee and Carla – thank you for your kind comments and your concern for Jozef’s health. The whooping cough took him out of circulation for three months but he’s back on track now and rebuilding his health and immunity (and his muscles at the gym!).
Also thanks for the tip about the Phoenix Requiem–I’m going to look it up right now.
J
November 9th, 2009 at 2:32 am
You’re actually going to FINISH work before you solicit?
Congratulations, you may be the most responsible freelancers in the small press.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Hi Colleen, Thanks so much for showcasing my artwork here. I’m working hard to get it done. Something on it every day. It’s such a huge task, but rewarding with each completed piece. I’m SOOO looking forward to having it completed and published, for Julie, myself, and for those ever-so faithful and supportive fans. It’s the BEST experience working on your own Intellectual Property.